Ramps are expensive here in NYC area. $12 to $24 a lb and they are available only a few days.

So I planted my own crop. Just enough for about two meals.

Yeah, looking at about 36" of snow piled on top, wondering when.

dcarch

What are ramps?

Can't wait for winter to end, but ramps, not so much. Rhubarb - definitely.

I didn't realize that when the groundhog saw his shadow which means six more weeks of winter, he meant all six weeks were coming in February and March.

Relentless

I've never had ramps, but I've been growing chives since the beginning of January, but not much else yet (except for chilies). I get tired of having to water herbs and have given myself a break this year, but I will probably plant some in late March anyway. I have to plant everything in pots because my soil is so terrible, but I am considering putting in a large raised bed at the back of the back yard. I recently installed a socket there so that it can be lit after I finish the landscaping.
This year it seems that winter only hit the east side of the nation and missed the West Coast altogether. Maybe next year it will be the reverse.

grainlady, I think you may be on to something. It seems that everything I'm cooking lately is green (swiss chard pesto tonight, and I have to say it did take the edge off my ramp craving!).

dcarch- they are crazy expensive here, too, so in the past I have mostly limited myself to the patches on my property, but that area got so torn up with tree removal last year I fear we may have too few to harvest. How did you plant yours- bulbs?

deeby- if you live in the south or the west you won't have heard of them as they require a cold winter. They are wild leeks, but they are sooooo much yummier than leeks. They are a difficult taste to describe, but I love them. They are very expensive in markets because the season is short, they are near impossible to cultivate unless you have just the right environment, and they are a serious pain to harvest.

momj- rhubarb for dessert after a ramp dinner sounds like heaven to me!

publickman- is your soil bad because your neighborhood is new? We actually had to dig out I can't remember how many cubic yards of awful soil at our last house for that reason. Never saw a single worm the whole time. Brought in a truckload of compost and planted worm eggs of all things. Took a few years for things to really improve. When I finally saw robins eating worms out of our lawn a couple years later I nearly cried- LOL!

Ramps must be a regional thing...I've never seen them here. Wish I did, they sound like something we'd like.

We have been staving off the greens cravings with windowboxes in my greenhouse... planted with arugula, mustard and kale, with lights on it a few hours a day. And DH has taken to growing sprouts.

I can actually see dirt in my garden, which is unheard of in late Feb. If the weather stays like this, we'll be seeing volunteers soon...various Asian greens, Flashy Troutback lettuce, mustard, arugula, spinach and chard have taken to replanting themselves.

Thanks for explaining. I thought you meant scapes or something like them.

kiwigem, Every Time I bought ramps, I just ate the tops and planted the bulbs. So now I have a small patch in my backyard.

Here is my "famous" dish:

Lamb, yams with ramp jam.

dcarch

Wow, is that ever gorgeous!

KatieC, we have ramps here too, although I haven't had a craving for them yet. Like Momj47, I'm waiting impatiently for rhubarb. We just had the coldest February on record here and the 4th coldest month ever since they have kept records, with 13 days of below zero weather, so everything is safely tucked under the blanket of snow that has no chance of melting yet. I just keep opening jars of those home canned vegetables and looking at seed catalogs...

Annie

Can't say I was craving them as I never heard of them. But I am truly tired of this winter, as I sit here with another 6" of snow piling up tonight. I do appreciate the education though. They sound interesting.

Ramps have inspired songs. I remember Larry Groce (of 'Junk Food Junkie' fame) sing about them on Mountain Stage some years back, but unfortunately I couldn't find a recording of that on the Net. Best I could do is this ballad by a guy named John Wyatt extolling the virtues of the ramp, and celebrating the Ramp festival in Richmond WV.

And here's an NPR article with background on that festival.

Arley, that's a fun link, thanks! I also heard somewhere that Chicago got its name from the Native American (don't know which group) word for ramps.

It's the "In" green for upscale restaurants.

dcarch

I can't wait for the snow and ice to disappear, so I can get outside and start planting herbs, salad and vegetable plants. I buy scallions at the grocery store with some roots showing, plant them in a pot and enjoy small onions for weeks. I'm not into fancy names like "ramps". They are all onions to me.

Definitely waiting for spring here. It is a bit warmer ie. 14 instead of -14. Lol.

I love ramps - fiddleheads eh. We also used to harvest daylily shoots as soon as visible. I like foraging but only stuff I actually want to eat.

I need to get better at growing some stuff inside. My grocery budget suddenly goes haywire in Jan/Feb when I start buying tons of fresh veggies.

Love ramps. Last spring a couple of kids on a low traffice residential street in my town had a booth set up in front of their house. My first thought was hmm, lemonade. Nope - ramps. Hahahaha!! I bought all they had. I'll have to remember to check back this year.

Skibby

Back to winter here in central Maine after a lovely lovely warm sunny day yesterday. I met a couple of high school friends for lunch. We went to what passes for a deli in Maine - not bad but I don't think any of my jewish ancestor's would recognize my sandwich. Lol.

One friend is dealing with chemo and being the primary caregiver for a mom with Alzheimer's and a husband dealing with long term diabetes related health issues. Somehow she is her gentle upbeat self. Inspiring.

And there I was in the neighborhood of Johnny's Selected Seed and Fedco seed. I spent a happy hour buying way too many veggie seeds while employees were scurrying around fulfilling ordered. I am most excited about trying some new varieties of peppers and tomatoes. Also bought pumpkin/squash, pea, bean, basil, cilantro, parsley, broccoli, turnip, carrot and other seeds. Fedco has a lot of people working on strains of various plants good for our cool moist climate... So fantasizing about a summer meal and preparing to start seeds...

I have never had ramps. I have heard of them and have been tempted to purchase plants to grow, but the plants are not cheap and I wonder if they will be too much of a struggle to grow in my climate.

I do have a hankering for sorrel. Mine is starting to grow, just not enough to harvest yet, although I grab a leaf here and there to snack on in the garden. It is also difficult for me to resist asparagus right now. I hate to buy them when I know in another 4-6 weeks I should be able to start harvesting some and those will be infinitely better than what I can buy. We just had a week of winter and it looks like next week will be a week of spring so hopefully I will see some progress in my greenery.

vicsgirl, a ramp is definitely not an onion or a scallion. They are of the allium family but have a very strong/pungent odor and flavor of garlic with an undertone of onion. They usually grow wild and have proven difficult to grow in "captivity" when lacking ideal circumstances. Most are foraged. Calling a ramp an onion is like calling a button mushroom a morel, they are definitely not the same.

I've also heard that Chicago was named for a Native American word describing ramps, but I don't know if that's legend or truth.

Annie